Louisville Magazine is Louisville's city magazine, covering Louisville people, lifestyles, politics, sports, restaurants, entertainment and homes. Includes a monthly calendar of events.
Issue link: https://loumag.epubxp.com/i/453014
20 LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 2.15 Ben Sollee Describe the space you're in right now. "I'm on a short break at Actors as we rehearse. We're on the ffth foor, Tetris shapes of light cutting through the windows on the southeast side of the room, which is flled with lots of bubbly energy from the acting interns. And chairs. Lots of chairs. I'm tucked in the corner, in my chair, with my cello and pedal board at my feet, ready to make music." Earliest childhood memory? "Playing with a Winnie-the-Pooh toy clock on the foor of my grandparents' house. My grandfather built the house on the side of Mount Morgan near Williamsburg, Kentucky." Sollee, 31, is a musician, composer and "pursuer of the dream." He wrote the score for (and has a speaking part in) At the Vanishing Point, a portrait of Butchertown onstage at Actors Theatre through Feb. 15. Sollee, who studied cello performance at U of L, lives in Lexington. When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up? "I wanted to write music for Disney movies. Still working up to it. Eventually." The weirdest place somebody has recognized you in public? "Always a little awkward. The most random was in a tiny Beijing coffee shop. It was a really cute gal from New York who was visiting a friend." Somebody doing big things in Louisville who is fying under the radar? "Kevin Ratterman. We're going to look back on this era of Louisville music and realize how much of it he recorded and produced." Besides your current job, what's the best job you've ever had? "Being a forist." Plus 8 More When/where are you most creative? "In the morning. Defnitely after spending time in nature. Or on a bike." How did you make your frst dollar? "Selling Pogs at my elementary school bookstore. The teachers found out; otherwise I would have been a wealthy kid." You're mayor for a day. Go! "First, I'd plant LOTS of trees. Then I'd make all the museums free admission. After that, I'd help build a coalition to secure a commuter train for the Golden Triangle of Louisville, Cincinnati and Lexington. Easy." Favorite thing hanging on the walls of your home? "A photo of my young family busking at the Lexington farmers' market. I was playing cello, my wife had stitched together some totes, and my son, who was two at the time, was just taking it all in. Years later, the photographer gave me the picture. It was like receiving a time capsule from my past self, from a beautiful but very challenging time. It hangs in the hallway near my son's room." What's on your credit- card statement? "My name and a balance I'm still trying to pay off." Favorite movie scene? "Life Aquatic's closing sequence, when Bill Murray's character puts the little boy on his shoulders." What tattoos do you have? "None. But my wife is covered with 'em. Actually, you can see her on the cover of Tattoo Magazine if you happen to run across the February 2005 issue." Song stuck in your head? "'Only the Lonely,' by Roy Orbison." Possession? "The headlight assembly from my grandfather's old International Harvester tractor." On your nightstand? "The Complete Sherlock Holmes and MIT Tech Review." Can't-miss TV show? "Used to be Dirty Jobs." Louisville dish? "Heart and Soy's Korean rice bowl." cellardoorchocolates.com